0xc00021a bootlop (also in safe mode) after installing OpenVPN

First of all, hello everyone... this is my first post, and I hope I chose the right subforum, in spite of not being able to provide a log

My Windows 10 recently got stuck in a bootloop (BSOD 0xc00021a) since I installed OpenVPN client. Safe mode also crashes and for some reason I discovered I have no restore points (duh!). So I'm starting to get somewhat desperate, because I exhausted all the possible solutions I could find after quite some googling, using the console in the recovery mode:

• Tried WMIC to uninstall, but "wmic product get name" throwhs the error "invalid class".
• Tried browsing to the OpenVPN program folder searching for some other uninstall option (e.g. msi) with no success.
• Uninstalled a few drivers I thought plausible, from those offered to me by the DISM command: vonva-6.inf (Cisco Annyconnect VPN I guess), avmaura.inf (FritzBox remote USB interface) and qcm20q.inf (Quanta Computer, no clue where it comes from). No OpenVPN-related driver seemed to appear.
• Renamed the OpenVPN installation folder (yeah, I'm starting to get desperate, I urgently need my PC and a few things I recently worked on).

Any idea about how I could uninstall OpenVPN, or at least boot into safe mode? Maybe if someone could tell me the exact program name (for WMIC) or the driver files of OpenVPN that might already help. Or some workaround to edit startup services or drivers from this awful recovery command line?

Any kind of help will be greatly appreciated!

Regards!

Ztruker said:

What happens if you turn off your WiFi and/or remove the Ethernet cable? Does it still BSOD? If not, you could then unnstall OpenVPN.

Hi Ztruker, thanks for your reply! As I get the BSOD after the Windows logo, but before the login screen, I couldn't disable the wifi. So I actually removed the physical wifi card, with no success. Safe mode also crashes.

This is desperating...

Can you interrupt the boot process and get into the BIOS screens? Normally this is done with F12 at the Dell splash screen. From within the BIOS you should be able to run a full Dell diagnostics to see if can detect any hardware issues.

philc43 said:

Can you interrupt the boot process and get into the BIOS screens? Normally this is done with F12 at the Dell splash screen. From within the BIOS you should be able to run a full Dell diagnostics to see if can detect any hardware issues.

Done the full Diagnostics tests (over half an hour) with no findings.

I think it's clearly a software issue.

No way to revert or default some files which might help?

Power on the computer then power off as soon as you see the Microsoft icon.
Immediately power on the computer the second time and power off when you see the Microsoft icon.
Power on the third time and this time allow it to progress to the computer's Windows advanced troubleshooting menu.

If it cannot open the computer's Windows advanced troubleshooting menu then find two flash drives that you can format.

One flash drive should be > or = 8 GB.
The second flash drive can be 4 GB.

Using the first flash drive create a bootable windows 10 iso:
Download Windows 10
Download Windows 10 ISO File | Tutorials

Using the second flash drive create a bootable Kyhi boot rescue drive:
Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk - Windows 10 Forums

With the Kyhi boot rescue:

a) backup any important files to another drive using copy and paste

b) make a backup image using macrium

Macrium Software | Your Image is Everything
Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect | Tutorials

c) Open disk management > by default the columns are compressed > widen these two columns: Status and Volume > double check the status column and make sure that it sufficiently wide in all rows so that all characters are in full view and none of the letters are cut off > post an image into the thread
Disk Management - How to Post a Screenshot of | Tutorials

d) Run the DM and BETA log collectors and post zips into this thread:
BSOD - Posting Instructions - Windows 10 Forums

e) open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste:
f) sfc /scannow
g) dism /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth
h) dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
i) When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on edit then copy > paste into the thread
j) Open file explorer and identify the Windows drive versus the kyhi boot rescue drive
k) chkdsk /r /v T:
(change the drive letter T: to the windows drive)

C:\WINDOWS\system32>chkdsk /r /v
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)

Type: Y
reboot

This may take many hours so plan to run overnight

l) Use the text and images in this link to find the chkdsk report in the event viewer > copy and paste > notepad > post a share link into the thread using one drive, drop box, or google drive
Read Chkdsk Log in Event Viewer in Windows 10 | Tutorials

The bootable Windows 10 iso can be used for additional troubleshooting steps and may be able to perform a reset save files equivalent (reinstall drivers and applications)